In the related art, there is known a thermal printer in which a thermal head is installed along a paper path through which a thermal paper having a thermo-sensitive layer formed thereon is conveyed. In such a thermal printer, the thermal head may print data on the thermal paper, which is wound in a roll loaded in a main body of the thermal printer. When printing onto the thermal printer, a leading end of the rolled thermal paper is drawn from the main body along the paper path and discharged to the exterior through a paper outlet formed on the thermal printer.
In the thermal printer according to the related art, a sensor that detects the presence of the thermal paper on the paper path may be installed at the upstream side of the thermal head in a paper feeding direction. When the rolled thermal paper runs out, upon detection of an end portion thereof by the sensor, printing is suspended and the thermal printer enters a standby mode where a user is prompted to load a new roll of thermal paper.
For instance, a printer may be employed to print transaction data produced by an ATM (Automatic Teller Machine) onto thermal paper (on a transaction basis) and issue a receipt with the transaction data printed thereon. In such a printer, when the rolled thermal paper runs out during printing, the printer may suspend the printing and wait for loading of a new roll of thermal paper. Then, the printer may resume the printing after the new roll of thermal paper is loaded. However, this may cause some inconvenience to the user because the above-described process delays providing the user with the printed receipt.
In addition, the printer may issue a partially-printed receipt in situ. Then, the printer may print the remaining data on a new roll of thermal paper that is loaded after it is detected that the paper ran out, and the printer may then issue an additional receipt with the remaining date printed thereon. Issuance of such two sheets of receipt is inconvenient for a user.